9 Basic Things To Know About An APA Style Essay Structure

There are many things that you will need to know when writing with APA style, and the following outlines nine basic things to get you started.

When to use APA style

Before discussing the actual structure of this type of academic writing, it is important to be aware of when you might use this particular style in the first place. Essentially, APA style is commonly used when writing academic work connected with the social sciences.

Including a title page at the beginning of your work

The first section of your work should be the title page, which is fairly self-explanatory, and will include details relating to the headings (including subheadings) as well as your name and other important information.

Using an abstract as the second main section

As with various other styles, you will need to include an abstract, which is similar to an introduction, and ultimately gives a brief outline relating to the rest of the work.

The main body should be the third main section of your work

The main body is where the bulk of your text will be located, and will contain all of the necessary arguments that you wish to put forward, and may include various subsections, as explained below.

The fourth and final main section of your paper should be the reference section

The fourth main section that you will need to include is the reference section, which, as the name suggests, includes details of any references.

Including additional sections not outlined above

Depending upon the style of paper that you are writing, it is possible that you might need to include a variety of other sections as well. For example, if you are writing an experimental report, then you will most likely include an introduction section, a method section, a results section, and they discussion section - all of which fall under the category of main body. It is also possible that you might need to include an appendix plus any additional tables or figures, with the sections following on from the reference section.

What style of language to use

It is important to be aware that a poetic style of language is an appropriate for this style of work, and should keep it to a more formal and even scientific approach when necessary.

It is important that you double check the latest edition for updates

Even if you may think that you know anything there is to know relating to APA style, it is still important that you check to ensure that you are following the latest guidelines. Ultimately, new additions do come out periodically, so it is important that you double check that you are following the latest instructions.

Using page headers and page numbers

Finally, at the top of each page you should use a page header, which is essentially the title of your work, and is sometimes otherwise known as a running head. You should also use page numbers, which should be aligned to the right of the page, at the top.